The water or moisture content is an important parameter when making flour-based food, such as baked products such as bread, cakes, tarts, and so on, or noodles for instance, as the water or moisture content plays a pivotal role in gluten formation and starch gelatinization. Having an incorrect water or moisture content in the flour-based food product during its preparation may lead to an unsatisfactory food product that for instance did not correctly bake or cook and that may have an unsatisfactory texture, e.g. an undesirable mouth feel.
The addition of water to the food product is typically a manual task prone to errors, which can lead to the aforementioned sub-optimal food preparation. Moreover, even if the amount of water is carefully measured and added, the initial amount of moisture present in the flour can vary, which therefore still can give inconsistent food product results.
EP 0 971 227 A1 discloses an instrument for measurement of moisture content of an article such as grains, pulverised samples, fruits, nuts and dry fruits, industrial and food products. The instrument uses the measurement of dielectric properties for quantifying the moisture content of samples working in the range of microwave frequencies. Although such an instrument can be helpful in determining the (initial) moisture content in flour or flour-based food products, it does not assist its user in correctly managing the food preparation process.